Mac kickers split with Southwestern

By Steve Sell

October 19, 2017

WINFIELD — McPherson College’s men’s soccer team approached Wednesday’s match at Southwestern as if it was playing one of the upper-division teams instead of one that entered the night 1-5 in the KCAC.

The Bulldogs, after a slow first half, scored a 3-0 victory to improve to 5-2 in the KCAC and 6-6 overall as they keep ping-ponging with the .500 mark.

“Southwestern stayed very organized and tight defensively tonight, which presented a problem for us to solve," Mac coach Doug Quint said. "Coach Pond had (Southwestern) ready to play. The adjustments we made at halftime really showed with our performance in the second half. The guys really started finding their gaps in possession to create nice scoring opportunities. I applaud the lads for the game-winner. What a fantastic goal that was to watch develop.”

After a scoreless first half, Mac erupted in the second half with goals by Kaonnye Opazo, Chris Kelly and Ian Canevari. Kelly Canevari and Greg Roller all had assists.

Mac had a whopping 22-5 advantage in shots, 15-2 in the productive second half.

The Bulldogs have a tough match coming up on Saturday when they play at county rival Bethany in a 7:30 p.m. matchup in Lindsborg.

• SOUTHWESTERN WOMEN 3, MAC 2, 2 OT — The Bulldogs were down 2-0, but rallied to get the game into overtime, but Southwestern pushed in a goal as Mac suffered another tough loss.

"After conceding two first-half goals, we settled down and started connecting passes," Mac coach Mark Olson said. "At halftime, we talked about heart, passion and intensity and the team delivered all three in the second half. Ana (Guerrero) scored two phenomenal goals to tie the game and we continued to create opportunities throughout the second half. I am very proud of our team for not giving up and getting back in the game. It's unfortunate we did not get the win, but we have to do a better job starting the games with more focus and intensity as giving up early goals have hurt us all year. We will continue to learn from these experiences and build for the future."

Emma VanDonselaar and Juliana Munoz had assists on Guerrero’s goals.

The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 2-5 in the KCAC and 5-7 overall. They actually had a 20-16 advantage in shots.